The review of local government has chosen a hybrid model for its reforms

Dorset Council mayor Greg Howard said he was alarmed that the report, which features nine broad community catchment areas, suggesting the eventual replacement of 29 councils with nine super-councils.

"They have identified nine areas in the state of what they view as similar interest and they haven't drawn any hard lines on a map or anything yet, but if you read between the lines, they are suggesting that this is what it will probably end up like," he said.

The North-East Community Catchment includes Dorset, Break O'Day, Flinders, George Town, and Glamorgan-Spring Bay councils.

Firm details about potential mergers of council boundaries and services will not be released until at least September.

"I reckon they'll just harden the lines up around them, the public input won't make any difference to them," he said.

"I think the agenda is already set.

"They have got no hope of selling it to small communities, I cannot see what the advantages are ... bringing 29 councils down to nine broad areas and expecting to build councils around those is nonsense."

Break O'Day mayor Mick Tucker said he was relieved that any proposed changes would be taken to state parliament.

It had been speculated that Local Government Minister, Nick Street, would use his ministerial powers to alter the local government boundaries instead of legislating the change via parliament.

"We are very happy because that gives it another opportunity to be reviewed," Cr Tucker said.

But regardless of the model eventually decided, they did not address the bottlenecks in planning decisions at the state government level, Cr Tucker said.

"It's no good targeting local government if you are not going to fix all these choke points in the state government that local government have to deal with," he said.

Cr Howard agreed, pointing out that one planning application from the Dorset Council area had spent over 140 days in the Parks and Wildlife Service.

The Australian Services Union, the top union of local government employees, welcomed news that the reform would be implemented via parliament.

But ASU state branch secretary Lisa Darmanin said it was concerning that mandates to force mergers and centralise services would be imposed.

"Historically amalgamations never deliver the promised benefits," she said.

"They invariably fail communities and benefit only private interests associated with state governments."

Labor local government spokesman Luke Edmunds said: "We still have concerns as forced amalgamations are clearly still on the cards."

Tasmanian executive director of the Property Council of Australia, Rebecca Ellston, welcomed the decision to force council amalgamations.

"Every independent report available says the case for reducing the number of councils is compelling," she said.

The review "supported the need for mandated amalgamations, signalling to councils that they can no longer sit idle and retain their current structures," she said.

Local Government Association of Tasmania president, Christina Holmdahl, Launceston Mayor Danny Gibson, and George Town Mayor Greg Kieser did not respond by deadline.

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